


Lantern's Light

by Rodentlady



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya sugar, Birds, Broken Kwami, Coyote - Freeform, Eurasian Jay, F/M, Fake Miraculous, Firefly Miraculous, I don't like lila, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Me having too many ideas, Miraculous Team, Nightglow, Nino Sugar, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season 3 rewrite, Shapeshifting, Songbird - Freeform, Unless it's Lila, Very little salt, What happens when you mess around with Miraculous, broken miraculous, class sugar, eventually, other magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 09:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27968132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodentlady/pseuds/Rodentlady
Summary: A rewrite of the third season of Miraculous Ladybug, mostly from the perspective of an OC. It starts on Heroes Day Part One, although there will be certain flashbacks. I will be following the basic chronology of Netflix, aside from obvious changes. As this is a rewrite, certain episodes will not be included and others drastically changed. The basic premise of the change from canon is that the Heroes Day Team kept their Miraculous from that day. Then we get the OC and her Miraculous. Also Chloe gets a redemption because I wanted to write that.To be clear, this story will mostly focus on the OC and her story, plus adding in some of my headcanons.Dawn either knows more than she should, or far too little. With the threat of her past looming behind her, new discoveries about Miraculous, and a mysterious curse, Dawn must find out the truth before it is too late.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Red Butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the best at writing, plus this is my first posted work. There will probably be plenty of mistakes. In any way, enjoy.
> 
> There's a book cover made for this story too, which I will share once I figure out how.

It mostly started on the day that the Scarlet Butterflies appeared. Akumas, whatever. It was also Heroes Day, though that mattered little to Dawn. Of course she was grateful for the heroes who protected Paris. Even Queen Bee, who she was fully aware, was kind of a bully out of costume. Dawn knew who all the members of that class were. One doesn't spend hours upon hours staring through a window for nothing. That wasn't important at the moment though.

Dawn would later hear that there had been some sort of illusion where Ladybug was akumatized and destroyed Cat Noir. She had literally no idea about that. She wasn't even part of the whole "You can be a hero too!" propaganda bit. That would involve having people who knew about her, for her to do something nice for them.

Probably not even Hawk Moth knew she was leaning against this tree. She had never been akumatized before. She wasn't sure what those red things would do to someone who was afraid but unknown. She wasn't about to risk finding out though. Making sure that no one was looking at her, -they weren't; the swarm of akuma was kind of distracting- Dawn felt the quite familiar surge of pain as her body shrank into that of a bird. 

As she often did, Dawn attempted to picture how this would look to someone watching. She was a normal enough looking girl, with dark green eyes that looked black sometimes. She had light brown hair that was straight and fine and had a streak of black down the back of it. Just a girl wearing a blue shirt with a brown and green jacket with startling sky blue pockets, black/brown pants, and rust colored simple shoes. Then to see that girl suddenly change shape must be odd. Yet there she was, a bird.

An Eurasian Jay to be exact. Dawn beat her wings and took off into the sky. She didn't know how or why she could turn into a bird, other than that it was a curse. At least, she was told that it was a curse in her youth. She never felt like it was that much. The biggest downside was the sleep factor. From the exact wording, she could "never find rest as a human". So, no relaxation or sleep or even calming down unless she was a bird. That meant her home was a nest, where she lived alone.

She must have had parents originally. However, just like she couldn't remember how she was cursed, she could recall very little from her childhood. Someone had to have named her Dawn Oziken. Not that she ever used that as her last name. Her older sister Song had been the one to raise her. She was the one to teach Dawn what kind of bird she turned into and the specifics of the curse. Song had disappeared one day when Dawn was about eleven. She had tried not to think about it too hard and had abandoned their shared apartment in favor of making a nest.

So now she lived in Paris, France and watched the Miraculous -that was another thing she didn't know how she knew, what the Miraculous were and other nonsensical details about them- business happened. She ate what she found, and any bird seed thrown at her. Although she couldn't eat bugs as a bird, she could eat birdseed. That was good, even though the other birds disliked her. She wasn't able to understand or talk to them in bird calls, or talk in any human tongue as a bird. She could still understand humans though. All of this helped her to survive, when according to human rules, she was homeless.

Most of what Dawn spent her day doing involved watching others, or making things out of junk. She liked to observe other people and get to know them without them knowing she existed. Was it stalking? Perhaps, but all birds were stalkers in that case. One of her favorite places was the school. She could roost outside the window and learn things. Also watch how kids her age acted when they had a home, parents, and no curse. She didn't plan on telling anyone about her curse either.

A flash of red drew Dawn out of her thoughts about how her life currently worked. For someone without plans to share her situation, she sure spent a lot of time thinking about how to phrase it. The bird looked up from the lamppost she had perched herself on, in time to see Ladybug swing above her, with two mid-leap heroes following. The green and orange outfits reminded her that they were Carapace and Rena Rouge. The Turtle Hero of Protection and the Fox Heroine of Illusion. Dawn liked both of them, especially Carapace, who she felt never got enough credit.

The akuma battles were a lot of fun to watch, especially because the akumatized victims rarely targeted her. There was Mr. Pigeon, which was kind of weird. She liked Mr. Ramier, and wasn't enough of a pigeon to be controlled by the akuma, but it was still really weird. Princess Fragrance was fun, because birds don't have enough of a sense of smell for anything to happen to Dawn. She had even once heard that there was a conspiracy theory about 'the akuma bird' which was in a lot of videos, and was, of course, her. She did attempt to be more subtle after that though. After all, there was one person who did know that she could turn into a bird, who wasn't Song.

It had been about the time when the akuma attacks had begun, the second Stoneheart battle had just occurred. Dawn had been watching the students trickle out of the school as it began to rain. There was a truly magical moment involving a black umbrella going on between two students. That wasn't what the Euasian Jay that was Dawn was looking at though. She was looking at the other observer of the scene. A short, elderly, Asian man who also held an umbrella was gazing at the two of them for reasons Dawn couldn't guess. She waited until the students were gone to question him, her curiosity winning out against caution.

Dawn forced her shape back into that of a human. Stretching against the itch that always started when her feathers disappeared, she made her way to the man. "You know, at your age, staring at kids is rather creepy." She twitched, the familiar human restlessness filling her.

He turned around, looking at her. "They're family friends, you could say." She could have sworn that she had seen something green by his shoulder earlier, but it wasn't there now.

"I see. So, two students that don't appear to know each other well are both family friends of you, who watches them from a distance instead of saying hello." Dawn raised her eyebrow, playing with the hem of her shirt.

To his credit, the man only seemed vaguely put off by her observations. "There's more that I cannot say for their own privacy. Not my secret." He tilted his head, gazing at her. "Speaking of secrets..." A chill ran over Dawn as a lone feather drifted off of her hair.

Running her hand down her head, Dawn realized that some of her hair was, in fact, feathers. "Not again." She muttered. Wincing tightly, she split the feathers into hairs. "I thought I got control over that years ago!" She thought out loud, frustrated.

The old man did some of his own muttering, which sounded like "Project Songbird," Then he straightened. "May I have your name, young bird lady?"

Dawn sighed. "Dawn O'Skye, pleased to meet you." She never used her birth last name, and instead preferred the name that meant "Of the sky". She had no qualms about sharing her name with others. What were they going to do, track down her address? Enjoy searching through trees. "Before you ask, the feathers aren't a normal thing. I can just turn into a bird." She probably shouldn't have said that.

He nodded. "Well, Dawn, I must be on my way." He met her eyes. "If you ever need guidance, find me." With her own nod, he walked off. Dawn shook herself and resolved to find a place out of the rain to settle for a bit.

That had been the last time her transformation had messed up as a human. There was once that deeply terrifying occurrence where she was a bird with human hair instead of feathers. That was creepy.

Another bit of red. This time it was yet another wave of those weird red akumas. Dawn took flight to avoid them, and realized she was sharing her sky with an akuma. Dark Cupid, she thought. The one who replaced love with hate. Keeping track of akumas was one of the things she did to pass the time. He was flying in the air, one of his hate-inducing arrows pointed towards the group of five heroes. 

Dawn received the oddest urge to try to stop him. That was ridiculous, she reminded herself. They got it covered, and it could put her secret at risk. Besides, if she broke the akumatized object, Kim, the boy who was Dark Cupid and in fact had no wings, would fall. No, Dawn would only watch as everything unfolded. 

The team of heroes was doing pretty well. They worked together as if all five of them fighting at once was a common occurrence, whereas it had never happened before. Ladybug was shouting directions as they took on different roles. She watched the friendly bicker between them. She saw Ladybug cleanse akuma after akuma.

Dawn also watched as things went downhill. She observed Dark Cupid's arrows hit Rena Rouge and Carapace with no small amount of guilt. When Queen Bee's family showed up, Dawn did recognize that Chloe had no one to blame but herself for revealing her identity. She got Scarlet Akumatized as well. Dawn, amidst her panic, took the time to recognize how awful the pure red color scheme looked. Seriously, the enhanced vision of her eyes was making them feel like they would bleed with pain from that abomination of an army. Dawn did not need to see that much red, especially on Queen Wasp, who already looked horrible.

As the original duo of heroes disappeared in a cataclysm, Dawn realized something. She might be the only one other than Hawk Moth who was seeing all of this. Sure, Prime Queen was recording, but that didn't count. None of the akuma victims would remember this either. A group of villains followed them down into the hole.

The minutes ticked by, and Dawn started getting anxious. Ladybug and Cat Noir should have been seen by now. At the extreme worse, their Miraculous should have been brought out. Dawn shook her bird head. She should be glad that that hadn't happened. A chill wind brought her gaze to where Hawk Moth was. Frozer was there, freezing stuff again. Why did he feel the need to do that, honestly?

Wait a moment, if Hawk Moth was saying that "your champions are trapped" that meant that Ladybug and Cat Noir were okay! Especially because they jumped out of the closing ice. Dawn watched with increasing relief as Ladybug spread her message of hope. The wave of pure butterflies expanded past her.

Movement caught Dawn's bird eye. A crowd of Parisians, with all sorts of makeshift weapons. They weren't giving up. Neither would Dawn.

Dawn reached the crowd at about the same time that Nora, or Anansi, related her speech, lifting the flag of France into the air. Dawn joined the charge with the people who had never once known her. However, she knew them and they shared their city. If she was 'the akuma bird', so be it. Dawn swooped at The Mime, diving for his hat as Ladybug and Cat Noir made it to the rooftops.

So busy was the Civilians' Charge, Dawn did not see anymore of what happened with the heroes. She kept flying and diving up until all of the opponents transformed back with flashes of dark energy and pure white butterflies. Nursing her clipped wing, Dawn decided that she had enough flying for the day. She ignored the pain of shape changing and leaned back against a building, ignoring the restlessness. With luck, the Miraculous Cure would occur soon enough to make the part of her arm that equated her wing stop aching. She was curious what was going on, but she didn't think the additional pain of turning back into a bird was worth it. Especially because it would be painful and difficult to fly until her wing was cured. Dawn merely trusted the Heroes of Paris to do what they always did, and save the day. 

Her trust was well placed. Before long, the swarm of magic ladybugs filled the air. Dawn felt the change in temperature as the ice Frozer had created vanished. She watched the clutter that filled the streets get reorganized. Some of that was mess from the battle, while other bits were purposeful blockades for the Civilians' Charge. She also felt the ache about on her fingertips cease and knew her wing was healed. The restlessness stayed, now more obvious than ever.

Tired from the fighting and wanting to resume her observation, Dawn made herself back into a bird. She took to the sky, glad that the want to move she felt was her own and not curse borne. The Miraculous Team was splitting up, probably trying to conceal their identities from each other. Dawn chose to observe Ladybug, Rena Rouge, and Carapace. 

To her surprise, the two did not separate when hiding to preserve their identities. Ladybug went somewhere else, out of sight, to recharge. Dawn carefully did not attempt to learn their identities. She knew that would be disrespectful. Instead she perched nearby and waited. Ladybug had instructed the group to recharge and meet back up and Dawn was curious.

Within a few moments, the three of them had emerged again."Wait here." Ladybug instructed them. "I have to go talk with someone." Upon the nods, she swung off. Dawn didn't follow her. Before long, Cat Noir and Queen Bee showed up as well. The four of them waited in silence. Cat Noir received a message on his stick and checked it, replying shortly.

Rena Rouge was the one to break the silence. She nudged Carapace and pointed at Dawn. "Am I crazy, or is that the akuma bird?" Dawn flapped back in surprise.

"Wait what?" Queen Bee asked in pure confusion. Of course Chloe didn't frequent theory boards as Rena Rouge probably did. Carapace began filling her in on the weird occurrences of Dawn, who internally cursed herself for letting the rumor get so out of hand. She just wanted to observe akuma battles.

Ladybug returned before Carapace and the eager Rena Rouge had finished explaining. Cat Noir had been listening in with interest and occasionally chiming in. Queen Bee looked like she regretted speaking for once in her life, especially because Rena wouldn't let her get a word of complaint in.

The spotted heroine laughed at their antics before interrupting. Rena Rouge respectfully stopped talking for Ladybug. "I have a request to make of all of you." She made careful eye contact with all of the temporary heroes. "As you all could see today, Hawk Moth is getting better. He is making his attacks stronger." She smiled. "Cat Noir and I are doing the exact same."

Cat Noir, who was standing at Ladybug's side spoke up. "All of you were gathered today to fight as a team."

Ladybug nodded. "I ask that you continue to do so. To keep the Miraculous with you and transform whenever an akuma attacks." The previously temporary holders said nothing, staring in shock. While Rena Rouge and Queen Bee had probably always wanted this, it sure wasn't expected. Carapace appeared to have no clue what was happening.

Like the well practiced duo that they were, Cat Noir picked up where Ladybug had left off. "While this is a great honor, it is also a great danger. It can put you and those you care about at risk. Especially if your identity gets revealed." He only briefly glanced at Queen Bee. "Having to keep secrets can cause problems in relationships with your friends and family. It can disrupt your personal work. It's not all fun and games, do you understand?" His often joking voice was completely serious in tone now.

It was Carapace who answered first. "I've always thought about how hard it would be to lead a double life. I definitely understand."

Rena Rouge nodded herself. "I'd never do anything to put those I care about in danger." She glanced at the green suited hero beside her. "I do understand that there's more to this life than glory.

"It seemed everyone was staring at Queen Bee. "I'll admit that revealing my identity as I did was a mistake." Dawn briefly realized that she was eavesdropping on an incredibly personal conversation and didn't really care. "However, I will do better going forward. I won't give you a reason to regret trusting me like this." Queen Bee was completely sincere.

Ladybug nodded. "I'm glad that the three of you understand your responsibility." She looked around at the sky. "We should all probably get home before our families worry." She smiled. "Bug Out!" Dawn watched them scatter, careful not to watch any one detransform.

For a short amount of time, Dawn let herself consider what it would be like to have a Miraculous. Ignoring the complications of the curse, -whatever piece of jewelry it was would have to fit on a wing or something- she thought about it. She could easily keep her identity a secret, it wasn't as if she didn't sort of do that already. She knew all the places to not be seen to transform. Besides, she didn't have relationships that would be strained or family and friends to endanger. Dawn cut off that line of thought. 'Stop.' She reminded herself. 'You don't need more complications in your life about now.' Wistfully, she flew back to her nest, with a final thought. 'It would be nice to talk to and have teammates.'

Exhausted from the entire day, not solely due to the fight, Dawn, in the shape of an Eurasian Jay, got to sleep quickly, as she was fairly diurnal. The cursed girl slept, oblivious to what was happening with the heroes and their identities. She didn't see the class picnic where she would have noticed a couple of things. She didn't see Alya wearing a new necklace with an orange-gold spiral charm. She didn't see Nino with yet another bracelet with a dark green charm on it. She didn't see Chloe wearing a hair comb that looked different from before, silver with a single dark gem and little resemblance to a bee. Dawn wasn't witness to the moment shared between Marinette and Adrien. Perhaps, this was for the best.


	2. Seating Chart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My rewrite of Chameleon for this story. Featuring, Alya notices more than in canon, the cafeteria scene goes differently, like a second or two of Ladrien, and Dawn sneaks into the school because she's too caught up in drama. Also a redesign of Chameleon's powers because I didn't really feel comfortable writing how her powers actually work.

It was an amount of time before Dawn, and all of Paris got to see the full team fighting. It was interesting, as Dawn had been able to watch the full reason for the akuma unfold. 

It started with Lila, that girl who annoyed Dawn so much. In human form, Dawn had been watching the students get to school, a pastime she quite enjoyed. She grimaced upon seeing Lila. She disliked the girl for her blatant lies. It was easy to see that she lied when her "real fox miraculous" had been procured from a jewelry store within a couple of minutes of her showing it off. Especially when Rena Rouge showed up.

Dawn only partially blamed The Class (The Class is what Dawn thought of M. Bustier's students as, from all the time Dawn had spent following their proceedings. There were days where she felt part of that class, despite none of them knowing of her existence.) for believing Lila. In their defense, a literal model was in their class, Rose actually was friends with Prince Ali, and Marinette designed things for Jagged Stone. So perhaps that made some of what she said less outrageous. However that wasn't an excuse.

Although Dawn had no phone at the time, she did hear the inevitable Ladyblog interview with Lila. Honestly, why did the girl say "Ladybug saved me from a Supervillian" as if that made her special? Ladybug had saved virtually everybody for various supervillains at this point. That wasn't something one could gloat about. Alya, the one doing the interview, probably held the record for most rescues, with Chloe as close second. Even if Lila actually was the fox heroine, (Dawn wouldn't deny that she had watched the entire confrontation between Ladybug and Lila from a nearby tree) which she wasn't, she would be bad at it. Ignoring the whole ethics and morals and such, for such a good liar, she was awful with the whole identity? What real hero would give her identity away to a boy she just met simply to flirt? It was ridiculous. (No, not utterly ridiculous.)

Dawn was about to go find something else to do when she spotted Marinette running, already somewhat late. She smiled in anticipation for the next excuse of the girl's. They were a lot of fun to listen to. Dawn liked Marinette, she was nice and helpful. As the blue haired girl ran through the closing door, Dawn made her form that of a bird. She flew around the side of the school and perched near that particular classroom's windows. She settled herself down to listen and watch for a while.

There was a weird musical chairs match going on. Or at least, that's what the girl nicknamed the switching up of the seating charts. It really wasn't necessary to entirely rearrange the class in order to support Lila's hearing problem that probably didn't exist. Marinette certainly agreed with Dawn on that one.

"Isn't Jagged Stone's pet a crocodile?" Marinette asked, clearly not believing a word Lila said about her heroic act and awful consequence.

Lila didn't even look flustered as she made up yet another lie. "Now it is yes, but he had a kitten until he found out he was allergic to it." Dawn noticed Alya's expression turn from kind to suddenly dubious. She drew out her phone and searched something on it.

As Lila was leaning closer to Adrien, Alya frowned and nudged Marinette. Marinette took the phone and read out loud, although she didn't sound like she was announcing to the class, merely reading to herself. Dawn recognized that Lila wasn't the only one who knew how to handle herself. "In regards to complaints about his well known Crocodile, Fang, Jagged Stone has announced that 'Fang's the only pet I have ever had, have, or will ever have. He's everything rock'n'roll and nobody's gonna drag him away from me' and has stood by that statement."

The entire class was listening in at this point. It was Alix who spoke up with her customary sass. "So, no kitten then." Lila looked close to tears, for no reason Dawn could guess.

Apparently done with everything, Marinette handed the phone back to her friend and marched with dignity up to her isolated seat. Even Dawn couldn't notice the anger bubbling inside her as Lila reached forward to drape her hand over Adrien's again, even after he moved it.

Dawn did see the approaching akuma though. The normal purple kind, not the red eyesore. She did notice that it was aimed towards Marinette with her disguised fury. She was fully aware that the girl was too distracted to see the approaching akuma. Dawn didn't want to see Marinette akumatized. Not only would it be incredibly powerful, but she didn't deserve it. No one did. With these thoughts firmly in mind, Dawn cawed. Loudly. She repeated it as much as she could, until the entire class was staring at her. Including Marinette.

Alya, of course, started snapping photos. "The akuma bird is warning of approaching akumas now!"

"How do you know it's always the same bird?" Kim asked. "I've seen herds of that kind of bird before."

Max sighed. "Flocks, not herds."

Alya's fully prepared response was cut off by Chloe. "Excuse me, but I don't think that's as important as the fact that there's an akuma!"

"There's not." Adrien corrected. "It flew away about when Kim was wrong about herds of birds."

Kim looked annoyed. "Rude." He did nothing more though.

Alya's face lit up as if she had an idea. "You know, maybe we should switch the seating chart again." She glanced wryly at Lila. "We should see how Lila's tinnitus works in the classroom before we do more. Besides, that's the only change I could see that would draw an akuma to that classroom."

Adrien nodded, trying not to look eager. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

M. Bustier blinked. "Okay then, if that's what you believe will help keep a positive classroom. However, we can do that when we aren't in the middle of the lesson." 

Before long, it was lunch. It was considerably harder for Dawn to keep watching as a bird when they moved away from the windows. However, she was way too caught up in the drama to stop now. She expanded her form, double checking for transformation mess-ups, and slipped inside among the throng of students going home for lunch.

From the map of the school Dawn had studied, when there was little else to look at, she knew her way around. Soon enough she was in the cafeteria, watching The Class.

Rose was busy putting together a lunch tray for Lila, because of her arthritis that also probably didn't exist. Although it irked Dawn to see Lila win more favors, it was Rose. She was kind to a fault and believed the best in people. You really couldn't feel anger at her for this.

"Can you carry it for me? My arthritis is acting up." Lila asked Kim innocently as Rose reached out to hand the lunch tray.

Kim nodded. "Sure." He grabbed the tray and followed Lila over to her seat. Kim was an idiot, but still.

Marinette, who was sitting with Alya and Nino, was clearly fed up. "She doesn't have arthritis." She muttered. "I'm probably going to regret this later, but I'm too irritated to care." Probably before she could convince herself not to, Marinette balled up a napkin and threw it. "Hey Lila! Catch!"

Reflexively, Lila caught the ball in her supposedly problematic hand. The class stared at her and Marinette. Lila opened her mouth to lie away what had happened. However, neither Marinette nor Dawn heard it. The former because she angrily stormed out of the room. The latter because she fled because the people around her were beginning to shoot her suspicious looks due to her lack of well, any lunch or school supplies.

Dawn had a difficult time getting out of the school area. It occurred to her that sneaking in was probably an awful idea. That's why she had never done it before. Finally, exasperated in the empty hallway, Dawn gave up getting out normally. Instead, she felt the unpleasant tingle of her bones becoming hollow as she became a bird. She flapped up to perch upon the open roof's edge.

So there she sat, with little to look at for a while. She wouldn't risk sneaking in again. She had been as reckless as she could afford already. Lost in thought, Dawn missed the akuma that targeted Marinette. However, she saw what came after that.

"Ugh! I can't stand those super goody two-shoes!" Lila was complaining as she walked, not applying any of her typical fawning mannerisms. She spotted the akuma at the same time as Dawn. Dawn didn't want to see Lila akumatized either, as no one deserved to be. The bird stretched her wings, ready to fly to the liar's aid. 

She didn't need to, but what Dawn saw would haunt her. "Yes!" Lila proclaimed with joy upon seeing an akuma. Joy! Akuma! What was she doing? "This is my chance." She cupped the akuma in her hands and brought it closer to her. "Come here akuma." Dawn observed in near disgust as Lila willingly accepted the akuma and let it posses her earring. The glowing butterfly symbol lit up her sneering face. The bird only watched as she communicated with Hawk Moth and then was surrounded with the dark energy.

When it faded away, she looked the exact same as before. Well, now no one could fault the akuma bird for attacking Lila. Never mind whatever powers she had gained, Dawn was done watching. 

She launched herself into flight, diving towards the akumatized Lila. Lila angrily brushed the bird aside with inhuman strength. That didn't stop Dawn, who carefully targeted the earring. 'I'm getting rather involved, aren't I?' Dawn thought to herself, avoiding the next swipe.

A whistling sound distracted Dawn enough to get smacked into a wall. That did hurt, she reasoned. However, it was almost worth it to see the spotted heroine swing into the area. However, what if she couldn't tell that Lila was the akuma? 

Luckily that never became a problem. Upon seeing Ladybug, Lila grabbed at Dawn. Within a second of the painful contact, Lila turned into a duplicate of Dawn's Eurasian Jay form. Dawn was frozen in her spot for the next minute or so.

"Rude." Dawn commented, knowing that it came out as a squawk. "That's weird and all, but also incredibly rude."

The Lila bird turned around smugly. "Do I look like I care?" She frowned. "Wait a minute, how do you know how to talk?"

Dawn was taken aback by the chance to communicate, but decided not to risk Lila of all people knowing her secret. "Magic." It was her turn to sound smug. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Lila scoffed and took off, towards the locker rooms. Unaware of the whole situation, Adrien was exiting the door. The bird grabbed a beak full of his hair. A second Adrien appeared from where the bird was and ran swiftly out the door. For a full minute, the three separate teens, one normal, one a hero, and the third a bird, stared in shock.

Ladybug, unsurprisingly, was the first to recover. She made her way to wear Adrien was standing, frozen. "Adrien, are you okay?" Dawn perched on the railing and watched. Adrien managed to shake himself from his state.

Adrien, who might have been blushing, (Ladybug might have been too, Dawn wasn't sure), nodded. "I'm fine, just confused on what the heck just happened." He rubbed at the hair which had been pulled.

The heroine snapped herself out of staring at him. "I'm not entirely sure myself. I believe Lila Rossi has become an akuma. Chameleon."

"Okay then... what about the bird?" He questioned, nervously fiddling with his ring.

Ladybug shrugged. "I really couldn't say. Anyways, I need to catch that akuma before anything else happens." She waved and swung off. Adrien went back into the locker room, probably to hide, Dawn surmised. She decided that she should probably cut her losses and stay out of this battle. Taking to the air, she missed Cat Noir emerging from the locker room.

Deciding to stretch her legs, not her wings, Dawn expanded into a human with a sound like popping her back. She emerged to the side of the school just in time to see Adrien steal Nino's hat. Aside from now cursed a image hat-less Nino was, Adrien wouldn't do that. That was probably whatever this akumatized Lila was, Chameleon. Chameleon ran off, yelling rather un-adrien things. Dawn watched all of this. She walked past the pair, Alya and Nino.

"Why would my bro do this?" He asked, melodramatic. "He knows how much I need that hat." He put his face in his hands.

Alya appeared torn between comforting her boyfriend and laughing. She chose the former. "It's okay Nino. I like you even without your cap." She frowned. "Adrien was acting weird though."

In an attempt to have Lila not ruin more friendships, Dawn spoke up. "That wasn't Adrien. It's an akuma. It turned into me as well." Technically Dawn wasn't lying, because Chameleon has turned into her.

Oddly enough, that made Nino reach towards his bracelet, one that Dawn didn't recognize. Alya slapped his hand and pointed to Dawn with her head. Guessing that it had to do with Alya's blog or something, Dawn didn't think too much of it and instead continued walking off. The fact that Nino and Alya slipped into a building and released a flash of light escaped Dawn.

She kept walking, lost in her own thoughts. It was only when a bus swerved and nearly hit her when she realized that Chameleon was still causing mayhem as Adrien. Irritated at having her walk interrupted and her restless surge returned, Dawn hid to turn back into a bird.

Shaking herself free of the loose feeling of her transformation, Dawn took to the air. Part of her knew that going to the Eiffel Tower was a bad idea for staying out of the akuma attacks. The rest of her was simply too annoyed to care. She was especially annoyed at how often she spent as a bird. She was human, after all. She perched near a handful of civilians, deciding to ignore the Ladybug and Cat Noir fight nearby. Chameleon must have gotten one of them. Judging by the other Cat Noir on the ground nearby, she could guess which one.

Dawn leaned against the railing, shifting quickly back to human. No one was looking and it was always better to be human when irritated. She gazed, bored, as Chameleon Cat Noir and Ladybug came crashing through the roof.

She hadn't noticed Carapace standing there, but his Shellter lit up to catch Ladybug. Something about him looked off; his hood was down. Beside him, Rena Rouge broke the illusion she had made to hide the hole above them. Queen Bee and the real Cat Noir also came through the hole. Dawn guessed from the beeping of both of them that Queen Bee had used her powers earlier somehow, and Cat Noir was responsible for the hole. 

It took a moment for Chameleon to stir, but when she did, her attempt to again become Ladybug was foiled. Cat Noir looked quite approving at the scarlet heroine's pun. Dawn did admit that seeing that Lila was trapped as an oyster was funny. Even if only Ladybug knew that it was Lila. 

"We're not out of the woods yet. Where's the akuma?" Cat Noir questioned, gazing at the oyster as if trying to see an object on it.

Ladybug looked around, her lucky charm still wrapped around her arm. She caught sight of a civilian waiter nearby and smiled. "I think I might have an idea. Waiter, if you wouldn't mind?" She offered the oyster and lucky charm. 

To her credit, the waiter was rather poised for someone who just had their workplace toppled by the heroes of Paris. She stood up calmly to accept the offered items. "Of course Ladybug, at your service." She used her tool to open the oyster.

Queen Bee was the one to accept the open shell and remove the dark pearl. "Here it is. Who wants to break it?" She questioned.

Rena Rouge elbowed Carapace. "His turn. He's testing a theory of mine." She accepted the pearl and set it on the ground in front of the turtle hero.

For his part, Carapace groaned. "You were serious about that?" The fox heroine raised her eyebrows at him. He sighed. "Fine." With a swift motion, he slammed his shield down onto the pearl, shattering it into several parts.

Rena Rouge smiled. "So the shield breaks, instead of slices like this. Good to know." Carapace rolled his eyes.

Shaking her head, Ladybug captured the akuma, letting the purified free. "Now to see what you really look like." Queen Bee commented, looking at the crushed pearl.

Cat Noir smiled grimly. "You'll see, it's an acquaintance." Dawn didn't question how he knew this. Ladybug said nothing but her cry, throwing her lucky charm into the air. The swirl of magic ladybugs repaired the hole, the disrupted stand, and dispersed throughout the city. Dawn noticed that Carapace's hood was back on, without him having touched it. Rena Rouge found this hilarious, for some reason.

Finally, the the magic swirled around the destroyed pearl, leaving Lila with a pearl earring. Only Ladybug and Cat Noir weren't surprised to see her.

"Lila?" The Fox Heroine questioned. Carapace and Queen Bee only stared.

Ladybug smiled kindly, extending her hand to Lila. "Now you can say that I saved your life for real. Truth?"

Dawn watched Lila quickly school her expression into gratitude. "I would be honored to be your friend, Ladybug."

The heroine smiled. "I'm happy to hear that.." 

Queen Bee spoke up, without conceit. "Some advice? You don't have to lie and pretend to be something you're not. People will like you just for being yourself." She smiled sadly. "Believe me, I know about faking who you are. It isn't the best choice."

Lila nodded. "You have my word." She looked so earnest, but Dawn stayed suspicious. They both watched the heroes make their leave in different directions. "Bye!" Lila waved. As soon as they were out of sight, Lila's smile turned into pure hatred. "I'll get you all soon enough." She muttered darkly. 

Dawn couldn't help it, she laughed. Making direct eye contact with the one standing there, she walked over by Lila, running her hand along the sidebar. "You aren't even close to subtle." She commented dryly.

The liar was surprised. Like most people, she hadn't seen Dawn before. "Um, do I know you?" She tried to sound indifferent.

The cursed girl shook her head. "No you don't." It was probably a bad idea to let Lila recognize her, but Dawn had the advantages here. "I know you, however, as the girl who's working against Ladybug." It felt nice to talk to someone, and be smug. 

The green-eyed girl looked at her warily. "I don't know why your making such accusations. Why would I dislike Ladybug?" She sniffled.

"That's what I'm wondering too," Dawn nodded. "However, I'm basing this accusation off of what you said like a minute or two earlier." She leaned back casually.

She could see the exact moment that Lila dropped the victim act. The moment where she glanced around, ceasing to look frail and upset. "Look, you heard nothing." Her voice was fierce.

Dawn wasn't backing down. "I heard something. It sounded like 'I'll get you all soon enough' to me." She shifted nonchalantly. "Don't know about you, but that doesn't sound very friendly to me."

Lila glared at her. "I'll warn you once. You don't want me as your enemy. It won't end up well for you. So do yourself a favor, and forget you heard anything. It's not like anyone would believe you that I hate Ladybug, which I do." She smiled. "Don't test me." Lila strutted off, while Dawn tried her very hardest not to laugh.

"Well, that was interesting." The waiter commented mildly. She handed Dawn back the phone that the girl had slid to her. "Have fun with her." Dawn nodded, and slipped the phone into her pocket, walking towards the elevator as if she wasn't about to fly down. 

Being more careful about who was watching than Lila was, Dawn turned into a bird only long enough to make her way down to one of the parks she liked to frequent in both forms. She withdrew her phone, thinking back to how she had ended up with it.

Now, Dawn had no money to buy a phone, let alone pay for the phone plan and such. Her current phone was one she had found. She had encountered it one day and picked it up by habit. Overcome by guilt, she stayed in that area for the next couple of days waiting for someone to come looking for it. When no one came, she accepted the universe's gift. It looked relatively new, and was already set up. So she used it, charging it with the charger it came from. Dawn was fully aware that it wouldn't last forever and she would be without a phone eventually, but she would make the most of it.

Now the phone was even more important. It held the proof of Lila's lies. Not all of them, just enough to show she wasn't a good person and that she hated Ladybug. Dawn was glad that the waiter had caught her meaning well enough to record the encounter. She would use this content well.

Keeping her phone out, Dawn started re-watching old Ladyblog videos. For some reason, there hadn't been one for either Hero's Day, or Chameleon. At least, Dawn hadn't seen Alya nearby. Ah well. Perhaps she had been too busy with Nino today. She was allowed her own life.

The next day, Dawn watched The Class once more as they switched back to their original seats. Most of them seemed much happier about it. Except Lila, but Dawn didn't care what Lila felt. She deserved to suffer. All was seemingly well with the world. 

Happy, Dawn decided to go get breakfast or something. As she flew away, she didn't notice the shy artist in the corner who had been carefully sketching the bird who always seemed to be outside his classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear, this version of Chameleon is weaker in that she does not put her targets to sleep when she takes on their forms. Instead, she does stun them for a full minute, so if she had managed to transform into Ladybug, she could have removed the Miraculous easily. Also, Queen Bee got confused and accidentally used Venom on the actual Cat Noir instead of Chameleon Noir. However, I headcanon that she can remove the paralysis if a mistake is made, but that still uses her power. I also figured that Nino's dismay over not having hat would translate to his hood being off as Carapace. 
> 
> I also wanted to put a joke in there that went something like this:   
> Chameleon: (Transformed into Adrien and dancing around causing chaos)  
> Cat Noir: That can't be Adrien; he's too happy.  
> However, Dawn wouldn't have been there, so I didn't manage it.
> 
> Next chapter, we get to see another noncanon character of mine, and finally, a glimpse of the Firefly Miraculous.


End file.
